Arija Bareikis was born on 21 July 1966
in Bloomington, Indiana. She attended Bloomington High School South
from 1980-1984.
After graduating from Stanford University in 1988, she moved to
Southern California to take care of horses for a brief period of time.
Next, Arija moved to New York City first working as a paralegal while
contemplating which direction to take her life in. Originally, she had
dreamed of becoming a dancer, which has been reflected in some of her
roles on the stage.
She eventually decided to become an actress, so she took acting lessons
in New York in her free time and then migrated into recurring soap
opera roles.
She has appeared in stage plays, TV shows and numerous movies such as
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999).